It would be hard for me to try to choose between Italian and Japanese seafood, so I’m not going to! Normally I only eat the food of the country I’m in but when I heard that Tsukiji had a good Italian restaurant I had to try it. I love seafood linguine which, along with the seafood risotto, is the house speciality.

Unfortunately it wasn’t very easy to get in. The waiter I met was a complete tyrant and unpleasant to such a point that I wondered if he was being racist towards me. Thankfully this was a rare experience for me when I lived in Japan but it did happen occasionally. Other Westerners have said as much about what must be the same waiter on various review forums but to be sure I read the Japanese reviews and they also mention a very rude waiter, so the jury is out for me.

Despite my very polite enquiries using his language, this waiter looked at the diary and told me they were fully booked up lunch and dinner for the foreseeable future and that there was no way I could get in. It turns out that reservations aren’t taken, or at least are very hard to make, but you can get in for lunch if you go early and wait a short while outside, which is what I did the very next day. A different, much nicer, waiter let me in and seated me. But guess who my table waiter was!? You should have seen his face! I was annoyingly nice to him the whole meal, except for a tiny tiff over his description of the wines but he actually mellowed towards me a bit when I spoke a bit of Italian to him. Not sure exactly what his problem was but he’s in the wrong job…

Anyway enough of him, I got what I wanted, the wonderful Linguine alla Paradiso (A) with cherry tomatoes, mussels and two kinds of clams. It was indistinguishable from anything I’d had from Campania which isn’t a surprise when you learn the chef trained in Sorrento.

To finish a Baba (a famous Neapolitan dessert) with cream, which again was just like the real thing (A).

Total cost with a good coffee and wine was Y6530, about £46; fairly good value given the quality.

As I mentioned in my previous post about Tsukiji market, I ate sushi nine times in the six days I stayed in Tsukiji, for breakfast, lunch and dinner! My excuse for this overindulgence is that sushi is one of my favourite ever foods and this was the best I’d ever eaten, so of course I had to fill my boots. Thankfully it was also the best value I’ve ever had, because of how close the restaurants were to the market.

As well as freshness, another key factor to eating sushi is seasonality. The winter is the best time to eat it (I was lucky to be there in late November/early December) because that’s when many sea creatures put on fat to protect themselves from the cold, and as we know, fat is where the flavour is. As a general rule of thumb then, the colder the water, the better the seafood.

I also got to eat several things I’d never tried before, thanks to the amazing selection that the world’s biggest fish market has to offer.

However, I should warn readers with a weak stomach that they might not find some of the things I mention below to be very palatable! Read on at your own risk!

If you’re thinking of visiting the wholesale fish market please note that it has relocated from Tsukiji to Toyosu in 2018. All the new and old locations of the businesses below are on my 2019 map.

This was my first sushi experience of the trip, a quick lunch while I was waiting to check into my AirBnB. It had a good price/quality ratio so it’s a good place but nothing out of this world. The restaurant is a little difficult to find as it’s hidden down a back alley, but it’s just a couple of blocks away from Tsukiji market.

I had the Omakase, a standard sushi set which typically consists of the ‘chef’s choice’ of around nine Nigiris (hand-pressed rice balls with a seafood or omelette topping) and a Maki (a seaweed roll cut into six or eight sections).

The word Omakase translates as ‘to entrust’ so you’re literally saying to the chef ‘I’ll leave it up to you’. There’s an element of risk in doing that as you may not have the same tastes as the chef, who you’ve effectively just invited to surprise you, but usually you’ll get the best quality seafood in the restaurant at a cheaper price than if you were making the selection. Ordering a la carte is known as Okonomi and it’s fine to do this instead, but ideally you should know your sushi.

I sat at the bar where the sushi is served on banana leaves (as opposed to a beautiful lacquered box if you get a private room). The first serving of Nigiris included…

…Akami (lean red tuna), Ika (squid), Aji (horse mackerel, which is usually sliced with some skin remaining on one side and served with freshly grated ginger and minced scallions).

Also Chutoro (medium fatty tuna), Tai (sea bream), Sake (salmon, pronounced as “sha-keh” rather than as “sa-keh” for the fermented rice spirit of the same name ).

This comes with a stack of Gari; sliced pickled ginger that is used to cleanse the palate between different types of sushi. It also aids digestion and helps to kill microbes in the raw fish.

After the Omakase I still wanted more so I asked the chef for “shun no sakana” (fish of the seasons) and in return was given this. What’s your best guess?

They are Shirako (milt aka sperm sacs of male cod) which are briefly in season between December and February. So yes, this is one of the things I warned you about at the beginning of this post! All I can say is don’t knock it till you try it, it is actually really, really good. The pleasant flavour and creamy texture were sublime, definitely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in Japan (A+). Eating milt is not unknown in Europe. In Sicily tuna milt is used as a pasta topping known as ‘lattume’. It would make a good test to separate the gourmets from the gourmands.

I finished with a pair of Toro Nigiris. The fatty marbled belly tuna looked almost like bacon but tasted even more sublime. An eye closing moment (A+).

This is a popular spot on the main road in front of the market area, Harumi Dori.

The opening hours were more acessable than the market restaurants so I ended up eating here three times. They have at least two sushi counters, in the basement and on the ground floor, and I think private rooms on the second floor.

I had the best negiri I’ve ever eaten here (A++); Kawahagi (filefish) with its own Kimo (liver) and a small amount of chives. The fish has quite a subtle taste but the addition of the creamy liver just sends it to another level. Absolutely sublime. I like it so much that next time I go to Japan I’m going to try and go to the port in Shizuoka where it’s landed and try it there.

I was very lucky to catch it in season (late October to early December).

My second favourite was Shirako again, here served with Ankimo (monkfish liver) another delicacy that has the nickname “foie gras of the sea”.

A second time it was served as a Gunkan Maki, which translates as ‘battleship style’. This is where a band of Nori (seaweed) is wrapped around a rice ball with a bit of space at the top to contain something that might otherwise fall off, such as Ikura (red salmon roe) or Tobiko (orange/yellow flying fish roe). You can see some Tobiko on top of the Shirako in the pic below.

Note the lack of soya sauce in any of these pictures, along with Wasabi (grated Japanese horseradish). Adding either would be poor etiquette as you’re questioning the quality of the restaurant’s fish. At Sushidai, if soya sauce is needed, the chef paints it straight onto the nigiri with a brush.

Here you can see the three main cuts of tuna; Otoro belly tuna at the top, medium fatty Chutoro below that and at the bottom lean Akami.

Another way I’ve heard it described is that there are two kinds, Akami and Toro, but there is two kinds of Toro, Chutoro and Otoro. The o- prefix in Japanese is an honorific that adds respect, in this case for the very best tuna.

In this photo you can see the big contrast between the fat content of Akami and Otoro.

As well as different cuts there are also different preparations. Aburi (flame seared) uses a blowtorch to change the flavour of the tuna, making it softer and adding an interesting aroma.

Botan-ebi (pandalid shrimp) here it was served uncooked, which was very good, but I prefer the Ama-ebi.

Kuruma-ebi, a large salt-grilled prawn.

I also had some gresat deep-fried white prawns (A) which I couldn’t read the Japanese name for. They were eaten shells and all because they are so small, which reminded me of the tiny deep-fried prawns used for Tortillitas de Camarones in Cadiz (see here).

The difference between a prawn and a shrimp is a matter of great confusion amongst English speakers however no such distinction is made in Japanese, there are just different types of Ebi.

Uni (sea urchins) with strips of Nori (edible seaweed) for picking them up.

Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) looks good here too. Some people judge the quality of a sushi restaurant on how good the Tamagoyaki nigiris are.

My drink of choice with sushi on a cold winter evening is always Atsukan (hot sake).

So lots of variety and good quality sushi at Sushidai. The staff can be friendly, it’s easy to find, open late and you can usually get a seat. What’s not to like?

Into the market next…

The restaurants in the outer market opened at 5am to serve the market workers and closed early, which is why I had sushi for breakfast on a few occasions. Over time the clientele changed to tourists but the opening times stayed the same. I’m happy to say all three of the market shushi shops I went to have successfully made the move to Toyosu and are still in business. I give both the new and old addresses at the top of the review.

Sushi Dai was the most famous of the market sushi restaurants (now moved to Toyosu), and deservedly so I’m sure. However, when most tourists arrived at the market, they would automatically join Sushi Dai’s insanely long queue (sometimes four or more hours!) without actually knowing what they were queueing for. When I went I’d just walk around them and go into one of the many other excellent places in the same alley or the next which had virtually no people waiting.

Okay, there was a short queue here as well as they are also quite famous, but it was only about 15 minutes max.

Rather than get the usual boring Omakase I asked the friendly chef for “shun no sakana” (fish of the seasons) in the hope of getting some more unusual nigiris. He didn’t disappoint.

The Tai (sea bream) was great (A). I’m told this kind of sea bream is impossible to get outside Japan.

I’d had grilled Hamaguri (Orient clam) at Sushi Dai but this was the first time on a nigiri (A).

I enjoyed the Engawa (flounder) as well (B+).

Buri (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail) was also nice (B).

Their Kawahagi (filefish) served with its own liver was stunning again, as it had been at Sushidai (A+). The Aji (horse mackerel) (A), Negitoro (minced toro with scallion (A), and Hotate (scallop) (B) were also good, as were many others the names of which I couldn’t catch.

Although they do many of the typical nigiris that other places do, Sushi Maru seems to specialise in Aburi Sushi where the topside is lightly grilled with a blowtorch and the underside left raw.

When I went to the old location I had a the Aburi Jyu set which included grilled Sāmon (salmon), Ika (squid), Chutoro (medium fatty tuna) along with Ikura (salmon roe) and omelette, ginger and pickles on the side.

I also had Anago (Conger eel). By contrast Unagi (freshwater eel) is slightly richer and oilier. Both are painted with a brown sauce called Kabayaki and grilled.

I thought I’d compare Tsubugai (whelk) with Akagai (ark shell) and found the former more chewy (B-) and the latter more tender (B).

I also had some Kaki (oysters) which were good but a bit too big for my taste (B+).

So this popular sushi restaurant (one of a chain) is in neighbouring Ginza rather than Tsukiji but I wanted to show how different two sushi places can be, even when they’re both near the fish market. It’s popularity is due to the sushi being quite cheap in comparison to other mid-range places. I had to wait half an hour but got in eventually.

Here I had the usual Omakase which was fine if unexciting (B).

Also, some Sāmon Uramaki (inside out sushi roll) which had been drizzled with mayonnaise. You just wouldn’t see mayo or any sauces on sushi in a traditional Japanese sushi-ya. It’s more typical of Nikkei sushi, that is, second generation Japanese cuisine in the Americas where they like that kind of thing. I don’t mind it too much (B).

As another aside, California Roll is another example of a Nikkei Urumaki. One of the key ingredients in California Roll is Kani Kama, or imitation crab meat, another ingredient I have never seen used for sushi in Japan. Kani Kama is a kind of Surimi (imitation crab, lobster or eel which is actually made with fish paste, often pollock or cod) which is used elsewhere in Japanese cuisine, but not with sushi to my knowledge.

The biggest let down though was the Kawahagi, my favourite new discovery, which at Sushidai I’d scored A++. Although it looked the part it only scored a flavourless C and I have no idea why. Perhaps the attention to detail must be lacking in such a big busy place.

As a friend once told me, there are two things you should never skimp on in life, sushi and plastic surgery. Never was a wiser word spoken.

I did try to get into the three Michelin star Sukiyabashi Jirowww.sushi-jiro.jp in Ginza, but I didn’t succeed. It’s tiny and you have to book weeks ahead. Here anyway is the sushi master’s guide to eating sushi.

Coming to Tsukiji, the world’s largest fish market, was something of a pilgrimage for me as it was something I’d wanted to do for more than twenty years. When I lived in Japan in the 90s I was always working or partying too much to go.

This trip then was my chance to put this right so I rented a small apartment via AirBnB right next to the market. From my back door I could see the rooves of the market sheds and Tokyo Bay Bridge beyond.

In the six days I was there I ate sushi, one of my favourite foods, on nine occasions, and I’ve dedicated the next post to cover what I learned from those experiences.

I was especially thankful to be there in late November/early December 2016 partly because this is the best time of year to eat seafood and partly because the market had been due to close in October and move elsewhere. Thankfully for me, the move had been delayed indefinitely due to problems with the new site, so I was very lucky to see the old market in full flow.

The market is organised into two parts, inner and outer, and confusingly, there is also a street market outside the fish market itself. The inner market is the fish wholesale market where chefs and restaurateurs go to buy their fish every morning from 5am.

Tourists are not allowed in here until 10am when most of the action is over. This is for safety reasons as market porters are zipping around at high speed on small trucks called turrets and it can get very congested and busy.

You wouldn’t want to get run over by one of these.

I still saw some amazing things on sale; huge octopus tentacles, the biggest bivalves I’ve ever seen, boxes of poisonous fugu fish, and everywhere men wielding huge fish knives. Please click on the photos to enlarge.

The outer market includes the sushi restaurants and the shops selling products related to eating seafood such as ceramics, knives, bill hooks, seaweed, some pickles and fresh wasabi roots. It’s open to all from 5am. Again, click on the photos to expand them.

In addition there is a street market outside the fish market itself.

This is where to come for your ready-to-eat seafood and pickles amongst other things. Click to enlarge.

One of the main attractions for tourists is to visit the tuna auction but it’s not easy to get in to it. Only 120 tourists are allowed to view it per day and during peak periods you have to get there at around 3.30am to be at the front of the queue. Once you’ve been admitted into the waiting room you then have to hang about until 5 or 5.45am which are the starting times for two groups of 60 to see the auction for 45 minutes each.

On the occasion I went we were fortunate to be entertained for some of the waiting time by Kosei, one of the tuna buyers who edified us in excellent English with some interesting facts about tuna. The buyers work very long days so god knows how he had the time to learn a language. Here is some of what I remember from his speech.

The Japanese consume 25% of the world’s tuna. There are four types of tuna, the best of which is considered to be Bluefin, and the best Bluefin comes from the Tsugaru Strait off Omamachi in Aomori Prefecture in northern Honshu. Bluefin tuna unloaded at Omamachi are known as Oma Maguro and they tend to sell for double the price of tuna caught elsewhere. The second best comes from around Boston on the north eastern coast of the US and the American fish are called Jumbos because they are flown in by jumbo jet.

Fishermen are not allowed to take tuna less than 20kg so as to allow stocks to replenish. Some fishing boats that have been out in distant seas for more than a year. The tuna they catch have spent as much as twelve months in a deep freeze.

Adult tuna are between two to three metres in length, the biggest ever caught was 679kg. The meat fetches between Y18,000 and Y5,000 depending on the quality. There are three grades of tuna; the cheapest is Akami (lean), the medium grade is Chutoro (medium fatty), and the best cut is Otoro (fatty tuna).

The most paid for a fish at the time of writing was just over a million pounds for a 222kg Bluefin back in 2013. It was sold at the first auction of the year which is traditionally the most competitive.

The buyers decide which tuna they are going to bid on by careful examination of the tail end of the fish. The tail has been removed so that they can hack out small pieces of flesh with a special bill hook.

They examine the meat for fat content by rubbing it between their fingers. Kosei will choose about ten fish to bid on but he says he gets his analysis wrong about one in seven times, despite having done the job for nineteen years, so it’s not an exact science and if they get it wrong they have to give the customer a discount. Quality then can vary by the individual fish as I found out when eating toro, the most fatty and most expensive part, with the most flavour.

Next to the fish market is Namiyoke Inari Jinja www.namiyoke.or.jp , a shinto shrine which guards the market and its traders.

Prayers are offered to the deities at the Honden building.

The other buildings house the Mikoshi, portable shrines, in the form of dragon heads.

The gold head is a male dragon and the red one is female.

Every mid year the shrine celebrates a festival called the Tsukiji Shishi Matsuri where two or three of the shrines are paraded around the streets. The shrines are extremely heavy (up to a metric ton) and require tens of men to carry them. Sometimes the bearers shake or toss the shrine to amuse the deity. As they’re dressed only in loin cloths and headbands it’s quite a sight!